Doggone nice: They'll find your lost dog

When Matt and Debbie Geissinger's dog went missing a few years ago, they were so distraught, that they decided to set up a group to help others when they had the same problem. I Lost My Dog was born.
STAFF VIDEO BY PETER ACKERMAN

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Mikey Brattole, 5, of Toms River, with family dog Chance (who was lost, but helped in recovery by I lost My Dog Search & Rescue Group.(Photo: Peter Ackerman/Staff Photographer)Buy Photo

With the South Toms River couple are a dozen or so volunteers, including John and Lori's friends and neighbors. Before the twilight search gets underway, Matt, a brawny 61-year-old, distributes fliers with the dog's photo and contact information.

"The game plan," he says, "is that there is no game plan."

Matt, a retired Verizon repair service clerk, and Debbie, 57, a retired hairstylist, are old pros at this, having reunited approximately 150 lost dogs with their owners in the past six years, they say. But this isn't rocket science.

The basic approach is simply to spread the word as quickly as possible, as soon as a dog goes missing, then get boots on the ground to canvas the area.

Facebook is as high-tech as they get. Once Matt and Debbie, who operate strictly on a volunteer basis, hear from the owner of a lost dog, they post an alert on their group's popular Facebook page, along with the time and location of the next organized search.

The good news is that a dog matching Lola's description has been spotted in the area on several occasions this week, as recently as a few hours ago. The bad news is these sightings can't always be trusted.

"I hope tonight's the night," says one of the searchers, neighbor Justine Yakovchuk, whose voice is hoarse from calling out Lola's name all week.

It's time to roll.

The volunteers pile into a handful of vehicles and drive off in different directions.

Matt and Debbie, wearing matching blue I Lost My Dog hoodies, split up. She climbs behind the wheel of one of the couple's twin silver minivans, emblazoned with the group's name and pit bull logo (in memory of their late dog, Romeo.)

Scanning both sides of the street, Debbie slowly makes her way to the paved walking trail a few blocks away.

"Sometimes," she says, "I just go with a gut feeling."

Debbie spots a group of teenagers on the trail, walking a pit bull mix. She pulls over and gets out to talk with them.

"Hi, I'm looking for a little lost dog. Do you know what a Boston terrier looks like?"

"Yeah. A black and white one. I saw him earlier," answers one of the boys, the dog's owner, T.J. Young, 14, of Beachwood. The dog was headed up Railroad Avenue, he says, about an hour ago.

Debbie passes on the intel to Matt via cellphone.

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(Photo: Peter Ackerman/Staff Photographer)

While an encouraging development, a dog can travel a long way and get into a heap of trouble in an hour's time.

A few minutes later, there's another lead. A young girl on her bike a few blocks away tells another group of searchers that a small black and white dog shot past her house on Mermaid Avenue only a little while ago.

Moments later, Debbie has interviewed the girl and her younger sister, and has resumed the search on foot, following Mermaid down to Route 9.

Still no sign of Lola.

Before doubling back, Debbie takes a long look at the traffic zipping up and down the highway.

"I hope to God she didn't come this way."

'A hopeless feeling'

The 150 or so dogs that have been happily reunited with their owners, thanks to the dogged efforts of Matt and Debbie and their posse of dedicated volunteers, owe a debt to Romeo, the Geissingers' pit bill, who died last year.

Had Romeo not given his handlers the slip and run away from doggie day care back in 2008, the I Lost My Dog Search & Rescue Group might never have come into existence.

Matt and Debbie looked for him for four, agonizing days.

"We searched and we searched. We did everything we could possibly do — put fliers up, contacted all the shelters, we had about 15 friends out looking," Debbie recalled.

"You don't know what else to do. It's such a hopeless feeling."

In the end, Romeo turned up less than a mile from their home, covered in ticks, though otherwise OK. The experience left a lasting impression, so much so that reuniting lost dogs with their owners became their passion. Today, the couple's efforts have evolved into an grassroots group with hundreds of Facebook followers and about 40 registered volunteers. Busy most days running a pet-sitting business, they limit their search and rescue activities to the Toms River area.

The group's searches don't always have a happy ending, but they've scored some incredible saves over the years.

One of the more dramatic ones happened shortly before Lola went missing.

Laura Princiotta's 8-year-old Yorkipoo, Beau, managed to get out of his Toms River home while she was at work and some workmen were going in and out of the house.

A woman caught him about a block away. She told a mail carrier who was there at the time that she didn't have a cell phone but would call the number on the dog's collar when she got home, but the expected call didn't come.

Princiotta contacted Matt and Debbie, who came out the next morning to begin the search.

Irate that the woman hadn't called, the couple posted a description of the woman and her car on their Facebook page. A local groomer spotted the post, and passed on a name and an address, believing the description matched that of a known hoarder in the neighborhood.

Not one to stand on ceremony, Debbie rang the woman's door. When the woman appeared at the front door, with a now-collarless Beau tucked under her arm, Debbie didn't hesitate and grabbed the dog away from her.

"They acted like it was their own dog," Princiotta said.

"It was almost like their whole world stopped, because of me."

What about Lola?

It's getting late. After a few promising leads, Lola's trail has run cold.

"The problem is we could be passing the dog and the dog could be behind a car and pop out after we're gone," says Matt, who has joined Debbie in the van.

They decide to call off the search for the night. Matt dials Lori's cell phone.

"We'll be back again tomorrow if you don't find her tonight.

"Don't give up hope," he says. "We'll keep looking until we find her."

On their way back, Matt and Debbie spot two, large black dogs, running and cavorting up the street in front of them, trailed by a woman who appears to be the chasing them with leashes.

As it turns out, the dogs got loose only moments ago. Now, one of the dog's owners watches incredulously as a silver van marked "I Lost My Dog Search & Rescue" pulls up in front of his home. Debbie and a news reporter tumble out; she goes after the dogs, the reporter flips open his notepad and starts asking him questions.

The man's expression says it all: What the ...?

In a matter of seconds, the dogs are collared. The van drives off.

Three days later, John and Lori get a call: Lola's been found.

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(Photo: Peter Ackerman/Staff Photographer)

She turned up in a nearby back yard, looking thin but eager to be re-domesticated after her week in the wild. Though Matt and Debbie weren't the ones who found her, it's a satisfying outcome just the same.

Reunited a dog with its family, Debbie says, "is a feeling that money cannot buy."

The message on the back of their group's T-shirts sums it up nicely: "I helped save a life."